Edge
Kris King's Ghost
I get what you're saying, but it's a bit unfair to put this on people just being irrationally impatient (thought some here definitely are).
They'll have gotten 3 top 10 picks since the letter (Lias was before, no?). Where they landed in the top 10 is based on luck and nothing to do with strategy. To me, you could look at the team, specifically forward, and say we don't have enough high end talent - we probably could use a couple more top picks, and i wouldn't argue with you there.
But management started the clock already. To me, once you go and spend 20m on Panarin and Trouba last off-season, you signal you feel you're nearing the end of your top 5 pick quest, not looking at 3 more years of it.
I also get that, which was my concern when we went down that path.
So now, what's done is done, and we're going to have be very strategic about how we use the assets we have.
But, that aside, this process has not been a very long one filled with boatloads of hopes and dreams pinned on exceptionally high draft picks. So when that narrative is floated, or even implied, I don't find it to be particularly accurate. Whether one wants to sign Kreider or trade him, I don't think he's the difference between progress and becoming the Edmonton Oilers. I think that's a stretch. He has enough value on his own without having to get carried away.